Broken Imagination
by Aoife the Shadow
Summary: Those ordinary days, were nothing but mirage. Imagination, sure could be scary. Marry-centric.


It was just another vibrant day in the Mekakushi Dan hideout.

"Master, I rearranged your files again~"

"Ene! Stop messing with my files, you *****"

"Onii-chan! You shouldn't said that word in front of Marry!"

"What's the meaning of *****?"

"Marry! Did you hear everything he said?"

"Urm, just the ***** part?"

"You're lucky Kido isn't here, Shintaro…"

"Oi, I'm here, you know?"

"Uwa! Leader, since when you were here?"

"Urm, Marry? Maybe you could make us some tea?" Seto asked the confused medusa.

"Uh, sure!" the girl beamed happily before she ran off to the kitchen to make some tea for her friends. Before she left, she could hear Seto's sigh clearly.

"I wonder why he sighed?" the girl mumbled to herself as the kettle boiled. She quickly poured the boiled water into some cups she prepared before. It was just a matter of minutes before the tea was ready. Marry arranged the cups on a tray carefully. Then she carried the tray toward the living room where everyone was waiting.

Even before her small feet could bring her near the room, Marry could already hear the noise her friends made. She heard Kido yelled at someone, probably Shintaro or Kano, maybe both, and Seto's voice trying to calm her down. Ene's cheerful voice was encouraging Kido to go on, while Momo was saying something to stop the fight, but was interrupted by Hibiya, who told her to shut up and enjoy the show.

A smile began to spread on Marry's lips. Ah, she loved her little family very much.

"Tea is ready," she announced as she entered the living room.

"Ah, finally!" Seto, who was holding Kido back, said with a smile. "A cup of sweet tea is the best solution for every problem, right?"

"Oi, Mary! I want one!" Momo waved her hand to Marry.

"Coming!" the medusa shouted and began to walk toward the place where the blonde girl was sitting. But, her steps were interrupted when Konoha accidently bumped with her.

"Uwaa!" Marry let out a scream.

Everyone watched in horror as the tray fell from Marry's hand, crashing with the floor with a loud voice…

The sound of thunder woke her up.

The girl blinked her crimson eyes several times, trying to clear her blurry sight.

"Where am I?" she whispered to herself.

She found herself inside a strangely familiar bedroom. No, it wasn't her room in the hideout, but she knew she had been there. It was so familiar, yet she couldn't recognize it.

The girl sneezed. The room, she realized, was ridiculously dusty. Kido would never allow such a dirty room in the hideout. So, this room wasn't a part of the hideout.

The girl tried to stand up, the bed she found herself laying on made a loud squeaking sound as she moved. She glanced at the window. It was dark and stormy outside. Through the dust-covered glass, she could make out the outline of trees.

Weird, she didn't remember seeing any of trees near the hideout. Well, this place wasn't the hideout after all.

She began to walk toward the room's door. Dust clouds appeared with every step she made. The girl wrinkled her nose in disgust. Whoever owned this place wasn't paying enough attention with what they owned.

To her surprise, she found the door was unlocked. She turned the knob carefully, half expecting the knob to broke and locked her in this dusty room forever. The door opened with a creaking sound.

The stench of something rotting hit her nose when she stepped out of the room.

She found herself in a small kitchen. It was a nice kitchen, if she didn't count the dust which covered everything and a number of rotting goods scattered here and there. Again, she wrinkled her nose in disgust. She wondered about who owned such a dreary place. Without warning, she remembered a story about a witch who liked to eat little girl which she heard from Kano.

The girl shook herself. No, it couldn't be. It was just another lie Kano told to her. It was just a fantasy.

But then, her very existence could be considered as another fantasy.

There was another door in the yet-familiar-looking kitchen. She walked toward it, paying extra attention not to step on whatever suspicious-looking things that lay on the floor.

The door opened to another familiar-looking look. She immediately recognized it as a library right after saw a tall bookshelf holding numerous copy of books. There was a small table and a comfortable chair next to the window, on which several books laid open. The books' pages were already yellowing, and she could smell the smell of old mushy books. She often smelled the same thing whenever she visited the public library with Seto.

The library was abandoned. No, the whole house was abandoned.

"Why?" she whispered. "Why am I here? How did I get here in the first place?"

Then, she realized the reason why all of the rooms looked so familiar.

"It can't be…" she said in a shaky voice. She staggered several steps backward. The information was too much for her to take.

"It can't be… It can't be, it can't be, it can't, why why why?"

She was in her old house. The house in the middle of forest she left several years ago.

Why she was here? Who left her here? And the state of the house, how? She always made sure to visit her old house once every month to clean it up. So, how?

"It can't be true! No, it can't! It's all just a dream! Yes, it's just a dream!" the girl began to laugh. Then, she dropped to her knee, still laughing.

Yes, just a dream. Someone would wake her up soon, and then she could spend another fun day with her beloved family.

Even if all of this turned out to be reality, her friends would find her soon and bring her back. Surely, Seto would know where to find her. Surely, everything would go back to normal.

Her laugh died. She hugged her knees and buried her face between them. She closed her eyes, murmuring, "Someone, save me…"

"Oi, Marry!"

Marry blinked in surprise, then she found Seto had been waving her hand in front of her all of this time.

"Eh?"

"Are you alright?" Seto asked in a concerned voice. "You've been zoning out for quite a while now. Are you sick or something?" Marry realized that all of her friends were looking at her with worried expressions.

"No, I'm alright," Marry said with a smile.

"Are you sure?" Kido asked. She kept her expression straight, but Marry knew that her leader was worried.

"Yes, I'm one hundred percent sure that I'm alright!" the medusa girl said happily. Everyone sighed in relief.

Ah, she really loved her family.

The girl was still hugging her knees in the same position. A series of thunder's voice echoed throughout the little house, but the girl didn't even flinch. Even though her body was there, her mind was somewhere else, burying herself inside an imaginary world.

"It's all, just a dream…"


End file.
